Improvement in boots and shoes



raras ATENT FFICE HENRY WIGHT, CF EAST CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. d, dated May 29, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, HENRY WIGHT, of East Cambridge, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Manufacture of Wooden-Soled Boots and Shoes; and I dohereby declare that the following, taken in connection with drawingswhich accompany and form part of this specification, is a description ofmy invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practiceit.

My invention rrelates to boots and shoes which are made with a iexiblevamp or upper and with a solid wooden sole, or with a solid sole of anysuitable composition into which nails or pegs can be driven, and whichoffers nearly the same resistance to wear and penetration by moisturethat is found in wood, and which composition may be formed in molds tothe desired shape.

In the practice of my invention I secure the vamps to the edge of asingle sole, and not between layers, on in and out soles; and myinvention in part consists in the formation which I give the edge of thesole, in conjunction with the manner in which the material of the vampis arranged with reference to the said formation of the edge of thesole.

It further consists in the employment of fastenings of a staple form, orform substantially similar, by which the angles and edges incident tonail-heads are avoided, and by which the vamp is secured in its placearound the edge of the sole, when used in connection with the describedformation of the edge of the sole and the described arrangement of thevamp with reference to the peculiar formation of the sole herein shownand described.

In the aforesaid drawings, Figure l represents a perspective view of afinished shoe with my improved fastening as seen along the length of theshoe, directly above the sole B. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section ofthe shoe on the line D E, looking toward G, Fig. 1, showing the peculiarform of the groove H H H H on the sole B and the way the upper A isformed into the groove and is confined therein by the fastening C. Fig.3 represents the fastening used in confining the upper to the sole.

The boot or shoe consists of the upper A, the sole B, and the fasteningC, and I form and connect these parts together in the following manner:I provide the sole B, Figs. l and 2, which may have any general desiredform or curvature, with a groove in its upper edge, as seen at H H H H,Fig. 2, and, after placing it on a last, I take the upper A, which maybe of any of the known forms and materials used for boot and shoe vamps,and draw it over the last and edge of the sole, temporarily confining itbelow the groove to the lower part of the edge of the sole bylasting-tacks,77 and when properly lasted inthis manner I proceed to rubor force with any suitable instrument the upper A into the groove in thesole B, at the same time inserting sufficient of the fastenin gs C alongthe groove to confine the upper in place. When, or before, I remove thelast'- ing-tacks which have held the upper to the sole, I then insertintermediate fastenings, C, sufficient to confine the upper strong andtight to the sole 5 then with a knife I remove the edge of the upperwhich protrudes beyond the sole. This, it will be obvious, leaves theedge of the vamp turned outward but finished Hush with the edge of thesole. v

The fastening C, Fig. 3, for confining the upper A to the wood sole B,consists of a bent wire formed with two sharpened or pointed ends. Thespan or connection between the ends may be of greater or less lengththan that shown.

The advantages of this fastening consists in that its confining part orspan or connection has no protruding head with angles or corners likenail-heads, which would cut the vamp. The span or connection being of awirelike formation, it may be inserted through the upper into the sole,with thespan or connection extending along and in the closest groove,without injury to the leather.

The groove H in the sole B, Fig.y 2, is peculiarly adapted to receivethe upper A, it being of a round or oval shape at its base or innerextremity, gradually opening toward the mouth or entrance to the groove,as seen at H H H H, Fig. 2. Said mouth or opening may be greater or lessto admit easily different thicknesses of vamp, while the joint of thevamp and sole thus formed is perfectly tight and secure.

I am aware that soles have had a plain rabbet cut back from all aroundthe upper part of the edge, upon which rabbet the vamp has been nailed.This method I do not claim nor practice. My invention has over thisconstruction last mentioned the advantage that the fastenin gs, thoughnot driven very 'near the upper or inner surface of the sole, are yetsufficiently far from the edge of the vamp to avoid the tendency to tearout which exists in the plainly rabbeted construction just alluded to.It will be seen, also, by reference to Fig. 2 that upward strain uponthe vamp will not cause the joint around the sole to open, but willrather render it tighter by drawing the vamp close to and around theupper part of the sole projecting over and forming part of the groove.

I claim- I 1. The Within-described construction of a boot or shoe,consisting of the peculiar forma- HENRY WIGHT. Witnesses:

J. B. CROSBY, ALFRED STONE.

